Fatal Outcomes
Posted on Thu Aug 11, 2016 @ 1:29am by Civilian 'Key Holder' Yolanthe Ibalin & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant JG Noelle Bennett M.D. & Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis
2,778 words; about a 14 minute read
Mission:
Interlude - Day 2
Location: The Box of Delights
Timeline: MD2 0315
OLD:
"Computer, lights!" Yolanthe shouted over the scream of his companion and she looked over the balcony to see the person she had hit was lying on the floor in front of the bar. His limbs were an awkward jumble and an ever-growing sheen of blood, bright red against the white marble floor, spread out around his head in a macabre halo.
She'd hit a boy. She'd come to terms with having to get physical with men from running bars. Drunks often needed a firm hand. She'd tackled others in the defense of herself and others. But never one so young. The ingrained horror of breaking a taboo turned her the colour of rust. And then she realized that the people in her bar weren't just boys, they were boys from earlier that evening. The ones who had thrown the egg.
She turned green as all the implications started to hit home. "Computer, call security, sick bay." She looked down at the boy still standing for a moment, and then dashed for the stairs.
Jelron heard the woman's voice before he ever saw her tall statuesque figure looming above. He wanted to stay and protect his brother, but he was too terrified of what the alien was going to do him if she ever got her hands on him. He tried to scramble to his feet, but he slipped on the growing pool of his brother's blood. He finally threw off the shoes and ran for his life before the alien could get down to reach him next.
ON:
Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis, Ensign Deborah Kato, and Senior Chief Petty Officer Kurrall were the first security personnel to arrive on the scene after receiving the call. Considering they were assigned to work the "after-hours" patrol shift, they were used to being called to investigate violent disturbances. However, this particular incident was more than just your typical bar fight between drunk deckhands or random passengers.
"What are we dealing with? Deborah?" Lieutenant Si'Lar Trellis asked the Bajoran Forensic Investigator as he arrived at the bar. Trellis was familiar with The Box. Moreso for his prior investigation into Yolanthe for the murder of her barkeep, Klia. The investigation failed to turn up definitive proof, and it ended up being the situation that the barkeep had been kidnapped by some Orion pirate. Now, here they stand again.
"Sir, reports of a burglary, there was some kind of physical confrontation causing the juvenile to go over the edge and suffer catastrophic injures. Sick bay can probably tell you more about his injuries." Ensign Kato said as she set up her forensic data collection devices.
Fully awake by the time she entered the Box, Noelle had been pulled from sleep and asked to provide medical assistance after some sort of disturbance in the establishment. Med kit hanging off one shoulder, it wasn't until she arrived that she was given the particulars. In most situations, despite being duly trained in both medicine and mental health, Bennett usually had a clear idea of what hat was called for. In this case, however, Noelle was torn between addressing the clearly deceased victim and making herself available to offer emotional support to potential witnesses. She didn't know the particulars about the people present except for the deceased young boy laying on the ground with the pool of blood beneath his head.
Experienced enough not to assume anything about her intended role, Noelle approached the gathered members of the security team in time to hear a concise summary of events. She made sure to stay within earshot but not so close as to come across as trying to overstep her boundaries.
While helping secure the scene from any contamination by outsiders, SCPO Kurrall came over to the Lieutenant and spoke in a lower tone. "Hey LT, the Chief's 'favorite' just walked in" He said, gesturing to the arrival of Lieutenant Tessaro. "Which one of you will get the honors of interviewing the Owner?" He asked before turning to go back to his duties.
There certainly was no lack of excitement on the station, even without any external problems to deal with. Annora was working the night shift at the security office, when the the call in for assistance at the bar. Thankfully by the time she arrived, other security members were there. As Kurrall was running crowd control, he was the first person she encountered.
"Morning Senior Chief. Can you give me a brief SitRep?"
SCPO Kurrall promptly made his way over to the Officer. "Ma'am, we received a call about a disturbance inside The Box of Delights. Upon arrival, myself and Petty Officer Tu'pnt found the body of the juvenile human laying on the floor." Kurrall said as he indicated towards the motionless body of the juvenile.
"We are awaiting Medical's pronouncement before he officially consider announce him as being deceased and begin our investigation into whether this is a homicide. So far, no one has taken a statement from the bar owner, I was going to leave that to you and Lieutenant Trellis to determine who will conduct the interrogation." SCPO Kurral said. Although the facts had not come out yet, anytime he found a broken body on the ground in a pool of his own blood, he always considered the lonely "witness" to be the prime suspect.
"Thank you Senior, thankfully it's early morning so there should be less bystanders to worry about." She walked over to where Trellis was at, taking in the scene as she did. Unfortunately, or fortunately, she wasn't sure which, she recognized the victim. "Lt, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Lieutenant Trellis looked away from Ensign Kato and turned to the fellow Security Officer. "Yes," he responded and he stepped over to a quieter corner.
Considering her prior involvement, she wanted to talk to Trellis without Yolanthe overhearing. "I recognize the victim. Him and 2 other young men were in here earlier causing a scene. Security was called, but she didn't want to press charges and there wasn't enough to justify tracking them down. Petty Officer Zh'tilnen was the lead on the responding team. I'm not trying to justify anyone's actions here, but it could very well be important information."
"Pretty damn well important if you ask me," Lieutenant Trellis said bluntly. "3 humans harass her and less than 12 hours later, she throws one of them off the 2nd level balcony of her bar, and the second one is still missing. He could be another victim for all we know." He continued. He was well aware of physical confrontations she had gotten into in the past. The Trill security officer would not be too surprised to know that she had gotten into yet another one.
Approaching Lieutenant Trellis, Noelle said, "Excuse me, Lieutenant. I'm Doctor Noelle Bennett, I'm a physician and Chief Counselor," she explained. "I'm prepared to officially examine your victim and potentially certify death, but I'm also prepared to provide psychological assistance on scene with your witness. I say that because when I received the call to come out here, it wasn't clear in which capacity I was needed." Of course, the words, "potentially certify death" were pro forma.
Lieutenant Trellis looked away from Lieutenant Tessaro towards the Medical Officer. "Yes, tend to the victim first. I want one of my security personnel to get a statement from the suspect first before anyone else speaks with her." He said as he returned his gaze back to Lieutenant Tessaro.
"You and SCPO Kurrall should speak to Yolanthe right now before she has a chance to change her story. I'll assist Ensign Kato with preserving and investigating the scene." Trellis said.
It was not the answer Noelle wanted, but she understood the first priority had to be examining the victim and declaring him deceased officially. It would also fall to her to take preliminary scans of the crime scene and help collect any evidence that would support her medical findings. She also understood Trellis' curtness, although she had hoped he would have expressed a desire for her to tend to the distraught witness and anyone connected to the victim once her preliminary medical tasks were completed. She would have to approach him about that again, but for now, she returned to the deceased's body and began to input her initial findings, calling for a sheet to be placed over his body to preserve some of his dignity and to keep the media from gawking.
Based on her scans and her observation of the body, the young boy's injuries were consistent with his reported fall and it seemed clear to her he died almost instantly, with blood and brain matter confirming even if he'd received medical attention immediately after the fall, there wouldn't have been much chance for survival. Her initial findings recorded, Bennett allowed herself a brief moment to acknowledge the senselessness of the death and the youth of the victim. He was just a kid, and no matter what had happened leading up to his death, and at this point she didn't know much and expected to compare the witness statements to her findings at a later time, no one deserved to die in such a gruesome fashion.
Shaking her head at the sadness of it all, Noelle returned her attention to taking photos and scans of the scene. As with the body, she didn't find anything that would contradict the facts as they appeared.
"Yes sir."
As she approached Yolanthe, Annora pulled out a datapad so she could take a statement.
"Can you tell us what happened? At this point we're just gathering information, I'm not concerned about assigning blame."
The bokkai, sitting astride a chair, arms resting on its back looked up at her. Her skin was burnt orange from head to toe and her hair was almost brown, the colour of old rust. "Lieutenant." She stood for a moment then took a more formal position on the chair and sighed. "I had stayed late, and was watching a documentary in my office, when the motion detectors went off in the spa." She paused, remembering that Annora was new to her bar, and to the station as well to a lesser extent. "Thats the top floor, where the holosuites are. I went to investigate, when I heard, more than saw, two figures. One jumped off the balcony there to the mezzanine, and then I guess to the floor, the other charged me." her body colours shifted to shades of grey. "I hit him. He staggered away, and fell. When I realized he was going to fall, I tried to grab him but I wasn't fast enough."
She made a note to check the security system. If it was properly configured, there should be indication the sensors went off.
"You said there were two figures. Did you recognize either one of them?"
Annora was fairly certain the 2nd person was another person involved in the earlier incident, but wanted the witness to explicitly say so.
"Not until the lights came up." Yolanthe pointed to her blank white eyes. "These are like wearing sunglasses all the time. What's dim lighting for most is pitch dark for me. I just saw a figure. It wasn't until the lights were on I realized it was those boys again."
Now the question was which of the 2 remaining boys from the previous day were present in the bar. There were no names taken from before, which might make things a bit more difficult. However, IDing the victim might lead them to his 'accomplices', and help clear up some of the questions that would likely still remain.
"Those boys again. They've been here before?"
"It was the ones from the egg throwing yesterday." Yolanthe's body changed from grey to bright buttercup to dark orange and back to grey again in a matter of seconds. "I think the one who fell is the one who threw the egg. But." she took a steadying breath. "I didn't get a good look yesterday and I didn't look too closely now."
"I see, thank you for the information. Was yesterday the first time they've caused disruption at your bar?"
Yolanthe nodded. "the first time I'd ever seen them at least. And I'm sure my staff would have pointed them out if they'd caused trouble before."
As the two incidents were now officially connected, she needed to gather some more information before returning to the current event.
It made sense, as the bouncer didn't immediately kick the youth out when they arrived at the bar. He let them linger for a few minutes before challenging the group. "Did either one of them say anything tonight?"
Yolanthe looked down. "One of them told me to move. I guess I should have let him."
"They told you to move, and then what happened?"
Now that the backstory was more or less established, it was time to nail down the sequence of events.
"Like I told you," Yolanthe still hadn't looked up. "I hit him, and then he staggered away, and fell over the balcony."
"They told you to move, and when you didn't one of the boys rushed you. Is that correct? Sorry if this seems like a repeat, just trying to make sure we have a proper understanding of what happened when."
There was also the question of motive on the part of the youth, but Annora wasn't sure that would be answered.
Yolanthe put out a hiss of breath. "It all happened at the same time, really."
Lieutenant Trellis walked towards Dr. Bennet and kneeled next to her as she continued her examination. "How did he fall? Can you determine if he slipped or if he was. . .pushed." The Security Officer asked, wanting to know whether this really was an accident.
"I'll need to take a closer look from the top, but at this point, it's hard to tell," Noelle replied. "The only thing I can confirm for sure is that his injuries are consistent with a fall from that height."
"Any other external injuries, bruises, anything else that may have contributed to his death?" Lieutenant Trellis asked.
Noelle shook her head. "Nothing beyond the obvious that I can see, but I'll know more once I complete the autopsy, assuming we can get the approval of the next of kin. Do we know who that is?"
"No, but I'm gonna find out." He said as he raised up and began to walk over towards Lieutenant Tessaro and Yolanthe
Seeing the trill come towards her, Yolanthe turned an orange so deep her hair was the colour of baked clay. He remained the only man she'd ever hit out of anger, and not out of defense of self or others. The stations population had been feeling the influence of a distressed alien at the time, but it didn't take the shame or guilt away. "Lieutenant Trellis," she said carefully, not sure what sort of reaction she was going to get.
"I'm assuming I don't have to tell you to remain on the station until we conclude our investigation?" Lieutenant Trellis said to the barkeep with an obvious tone of suspicion.
She shook her head, and blue tones flickered across her for a moment, relieved he wasn't going to arrest her. Again. "Not at all. I'll be right here should you need anything."
"I'm certain that you won't go anywhere else. . . that's part of the problem." The Trill said ruefully as he turned to Lieutenant Tessaro. "We need to begin searching for the surviving sibling. Undoubtedly, he'll have more information that can help our investigation. Since you have already come in contact with the boy, it's probably best that you search for him so we can find out if he has a different take on how his brother died." Lieutenant Trellis said, indicating that he was not completely sold on Yolanthe's version of the incident.
She didn't bother to point out they didn't know for sure the other person was a sibling. At this point in the investigation it was simply conjecture.
"Aye sir."
Annora left the bar for the office to begin working the forensic artist on call for the night shift. She would also add the other person from the previous incident to the bulletin distributed to the security staff. If nothing else, he might know where the main person of interest was at.
Si'Lar Trellis
Lieutenant
Security Investigation Officer
Deborah Kato
Ensign
Forensic Investigation Officer
Yolanthe Ibalin
Owner, The Box of Delights
Noelle Bennet, M.D.
Lieutenant J.G.
Chief Medical Officer
Lieutenant JG Annora Tessaro
Assistant Security Chief
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